


Trophy Boy

by bonespell



Series: Trophy Boy [1]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors
Genre: Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Fear, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Kidnapping, Non-Consensual Kissing, Warriors Needs A Hug, cia is a Bitch, clearly i Cannot, he gets one, it's poetic, more than one, someone protect him please, warriors gets snatched, wars goes through so much, wind bitch-slaps her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:54:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25081213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonespell/pseuds/bonespell
Summary: Warriors is the only one who’s unaccounted for. Legend scans the battlefield for his easy smile, the brilliant blue of his scarf, his laugh as he pulls off another fancy trick that requires the usual  stupid risk.But  the battlefield is devoid of Warriors, and the atmosphere already feels darker.
Relationships: Legend & Warriors (Linked Universe)
Series: Trophy Boy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880128
Comments: 21
Kudos: 254





	Trophy Boy

**Author's Note:**

> i will write hyrule warriors content with my little bastard hands because nobody else will

Fuck.

Legend scrambles to his feet, pulling his sword from its sheath.The strap tugs at his arm, but he ignores that for the moment. Somehow, they’ve landed in the middle of a battlefield, astonished monsters surrounding them on all sides. 

“Where are we?” Wind demands, hopping to his feet and charging at a nearby foe faster than Legend thought any of them could move. “What’s going on?”

The sound of clanging metal echoes all around them, monsters they had never seen before attacking with a primal viciousness.

“Hell if I know,” Legend grunts, holding his sword out in front of him. He tries to survey who’s here. He hopes they haven’t been separated; it’s always too much of an ordeal.

It’s difficult to keep track of all of the Links as they move around the battlefield, fending off the strange new monsters. They haven’t been here before, Legend can already say. He’s never seen here, and based on his companions’ confused, uncertain faces, nobody else has either.

_One_ , he thinks, counting Wind at his side. Behind him is Hyrule and Twilight, back to back. Twilight throws waves of the monsters away, as Hyrule darts forward, finishing them off with quick slashes before jumping back. It’s brutally efficient, and Legend admires it.

_Four_ , he continues, taking Four into account. He’s holding his own very well, regardless of the fact that he’s significantly shorter than some of these... goblin things. Legend counts Wild and Time as well, who are both intently focused. They always get locked in the heat of battle, and it’s hard to snap them out of it until they’re done. It seems to be a trait unique to them.

_Seven,_ , he counts, noting Sky’s sailcloth fluttering behind him as he dances between enemies. It’s an elegant dance, violent and bloody and beautiful. Legend had always thought his fighting style was rather stunning.

Legend counts himself as well, bringing them to eight. He’s definitely present.

Warriors is the only one who’s unaccounted for. Legend scans the battlefield for his easy smile, the brilliant blue of his scarf, his laugh as he pulls off another fancy trick that requires the usual stupid risk. 

But the battlefield is devoid of Warriors, and the atmosphere already feels darker.

  
  
  
  
  


When the group grows weary and sluggish, they’re pulled out of battle by a young blonde woman. She has an air of command, and she’s certainly beautiful, even including the blood staining her skirt. She cuts down the monsters that are coming from behind them with practiced ease, chest heaving. She looks as fatigued at the rest of them, but she’s damn good at not showing it.

The woman sheaths her rapier, turning on her heel to face them. She narrows her eyes, purses her lips. She studies them carefully, before stating;

“You’re not from this world.”

She says it far too easily, like it’s a common occurrence. Legend is baffled, his brothers equally alarmed. This world-jumping was new to all of them. How could she-

“No need to look so surprised,” She says, waving her hand dismissively. “My name is Zelda. I’ll explain everything in a moment. Correct me if I’m wrong - you all look alarmingly like Link.”

“So you’re Warriors’ Zelda?” Hyrule blurts. Zelda levels him with a confused stare, one of her perfect eyebrows raised.

“Nicknames, Princess,” Sky smiles at her. “We need them - uh, it’s difficult to explain, but we’re all different incarnations of the hero’s spirit-”

“We’re all Link,” Legend says bluntly, cutting him off before he can begin on a long-winded conversation. He has a nasty cut on his thigh, and he isn’t too keen on standing in a field of corpses any longer.

“I can’t say I’m surprised, quite honestly,” Zelda says. “I knew Link must have gone somewhere.”

She walks directly through the group, to a crumbling fortress in the distance. She turns once she’s a few feet from them, quirking her brow once more. So that’s where Warriors had gotten the habit, Legend realizes. “Are you coming?”

They follow her.

  
  
  
  
  


Zelda leads them to her throne room. There stands a young woman with blue hair. It’s an unusual hair colour, but she’s as beautiful as Zelda. 

Are all the people in this world just naturally stunning? 

“Where is Link?” The blue haired woman asks softly. “Shouldn’t he be with you?”

“We haven’t a clue, ma’am,” Twilight replies, forcibly wrapping a bandage around Wild’s wrist. Wild is glaring at his wrist like it had personally offended him. Legend supposes it has. Wild despises injury.

“Sometimes we’re separated when we change worlds,” Time adds after a moment. “We always find our way back. Link is more than capable by himself. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

The blue-haired woman looks away. Legend would really like to know if her hair colour is natural. Maybe he’ll ask, when the tension of the room eases.

Another woman enters. Her hair is stark-white, and the muscles of her arms are chiseled out. She sort of resembles the statue of a goddess. Legend comes to the conclusion everyone here is beautiful. It sort of makes sense - Warriors is too.

“My queen,” She says, kneeling before Zelda.

“Impa,” Zelda says. “You may rise. Please tell me you have any news on him. Anything.”

“Nobody has seen any trace of him. We scoured the battlefield. Only the most unidentifiable bodies remain, but none of them even resemble him. He’s… It’s sort of like he was never there to begin with.”

“If I may,” The blue-haired woman says, standing up from where she’s wrapping Four’s ankle. “I… need to come clean.”

“What about, Lana?” Zelda asks. Her eyebrows furrow in the middle, marring her face ever so slightly. It’s not a look that fits her, worry.

“I… have neglected to inform you, but I’ve been picking up a very familiar signature of magic as of late… I..”

“You must be joking,” Impa spits.

“I believe,” Lana says, pausing for a deep breath. “That Cia has returned.”

The room is silent for a moment, before Impa yells, “Son of a bitch!”

Legend is taken aback. He’s never heard the name before- Cia must be unique to Warriors’ Hyrule. She seems to be a concern.

“I- I’m sorry,” Lana stammers, putting her hands up and backing away.

“You can’t not tell us things like that, Lana! It’s crucial! She likely has Link now. I’d be willing to bet my wallet this is her doing. You know what she’s like. You know how she is when it comes to him.”

“Well shit, Impa,” Lana shouts back suddenly, her face hardening. “Forgive me for believing that Cia was dead after you all ran her through. She was my other half, regardless of what she’d done. She was literally half of me. Forgive me for wanting her to finally rest.”

“Ladies, please,” Zelda tries to intervene, but Impa and Lana continue to yell. The Queen looks desperate. Legend puts his hand on the hilt of his sword. The two look like they’re going to come to blows.

Impa swings.

Lana ducks under the punch smoothly, raising her knee and jamming it into Impa’s ribcage. She grunts, but uses Lana’s temporary loss of momentum to shove her to the ground. She raises her foot.

“Your Queen said that was enough,” Legend hears himself say. He recognises that he’s pulled quite a stupid move, something Wild would be proud of. He’s standing between the two women, his sword drawn. Impa is glaring daggers at him, but he glares right back.

“Wa- Link is in genuine danger, most likely, and you two throw punches? How the hell is that meant to help him?”

“Thank you, Li-” Zelda stops short. “Is your name..”

“Call me Legend. It’s simpler,” Legend frowns, moving from his place between the two women. “But we can’t just leave him with this.. Cia woman. What does she want anyways? We can help.”

  
  
  
  
  


Warriors wakes up in a freezing room.

He shoots up, holding the covers at his waist. Covers?

He’s in a canopy bed. It’s rotting, and one of the bedposts is crumbling. The covers are worn thin, and he’s freezing. The whole room looks like that.

There’s a massive window, but it’s barred. A metal door, and a dark, cold, rotting bedroom. There’s an empty fireplace, the wood soggy. It won’t make any sort of fire.

Warriors takes inventory. That is to say, he doesn’t have one.

His armour is gone. He has his tunic undershirt and his trousers still. His scarf, shoes, armour, it’s all gone. He’s shivering. He needs to get warm soon. He doesn’t know if he’ll last much longer without-

“Hello, hero,” A voice purrs from everywhere at once. A dark shadow appears in his room, and it slowly condenses. It takes the form of a woman.

“Cia,” Warriors growls. His eyes widen when he notices what she’s toying with.

“Hello, Link,” She smiles, sitting on the end of his bed. “I hope you’re feeling alright.”

Her smile isn’t like Lana’s smile, Warriors notices. While Lana’s smile is genuine and pure and full of the love she holds for everyone, Cia’s smile is twisted and cold and greedy. She smiles like she wants something.

“I wonder,” Warriors drawls. “I’m freezing, and without any belongings. Yes, I’m wonderful.”

He thinks that might have made Legend proud, had he heard it.

“Fetch the hero wood. Make him a fire,” Cia commands the moblins at the door. “Is there anything else you desire, my love?”

“Don’t you dare call me that,” Warriors spits, backing away as her hand reaches for his. The idea of touching her is revolting. She looks hurt. She clutches his scarf closer to her chest. She seems to be waiting for him to ask for it back. Warriors won’t give in, even if he loves that scarf more than any other belonging he’s ever owned.

“Fine!” Cia huffs, standing. “I’ll be back, hero. You’ll understand soon.”

“Get fucked,” Warriors mutters, pulling his blankets tighter around his shoulders as she exits.

Legend would definitely be proud.

  
  
  
  
  


Legend finds Lana later that night. She’s sitting on a castle balcony, hugging herself. Legend sits next to her silently.

“I’ve potentially doomed him. I can’t imagine you all aren’t mad.”

“Mad?” Legend scoffs. “No, not really. Warriors is capable. He’s gotten himself out of some of the most ridiculous situations I’ve ever seen. I’m not particularly worried.”

“You.. don’t understand. Cia and I were once the guardian of time, when we were one. She’s all the evil that was in our heart. She’s obsessed with him. She’s gone after him before. She sees him as a prize more than anything else. Something that can be won.”

Legend despises how that sounds. He can’t imagine being taken as a spoil of war - he’s seen it happen. It ruins the person it happens to, destroys them and their morale completely. They’re treated as less than human for so long they forget how to think of themself as human.

He can’t imagine that happening to Warriors.

  
  
  
  
  


Warriors gets the feeling he’s a sort of.. spoil. Cia’s been in and out, being sweet to him, calling him pet names… Warriors doesn’t like how it feels to be objectified the way he is.

It takes a few weeks to realise that right around noon, he has a chance to get out. He knows what the Valley of Souls looks like. He’s been there in battle, and he intimately knows the layout. If he can reach the fairy fountain, he can beg for her to send him back to Hyrule Castle.

When the servant boy, some kind of horned creature who sort of resembles a kid, brings him his meal, he slaps it out of his hand. The meal splatters, and Warriors shoves the kid into the door as he sprints out.

The stone is cold, and he can see rain coming in from the holes in the ceiling. The temple is still shit, apparently. He doesn’t have time to dwell on it.

He races down the stairs. The portrait is still there, the massive one of him. He shoves past a moblin as he races into the storm. Vaguely, he can hear them yelling from back in the temple.

Warriors curses as he stumbles down some steps, his bare feet burning against the freezing stone. The lower part of his pants are covered in mud, but he has no time to stop. He races down from the barracks, and jumps down off a platform. He can see the fountain. It’s right there.

He skids around the corner of the plant box, and runs into the room of the fountain.

He gets a few feet into the overhang when he hits metal.

The doors to the fountain are closed. He screams, pounds his fists against them. He can’t make any kind of coherent thought form. All he can think of is the absolute chilling despair feeling in his gut. All he can think of is that he hasn’t made it.

He continues pounding against the door, yelling for the fairy’s help. He doesn’t hear the footsteps behind him, or the grunts of the moblins. He doesn’t hear Cia’s smooth voice from behind him, but he definitely feels her manicured hand on his shoulder.

Warriors spins around, backing himself against the metal door. She takes his hand, and gives him the corrupted smile he associates with her.

“Love, surely you could have picked a better day to take a field trip. It’s not a good day to bask in the sunlight,” She laughs. She laughs like nothing’s wrong, and it makes Warriors so angry.

“Just let me go,” He spits, quite literally. Cia closes her eyes in disgust for a minute, before continuing.

“Whatever possessed you to leave? We could have gone outside on a nicer day. I’d take you - all you have to do is ask, Link.” 

It’s like she didn’t even hear him the first time. He wants to back up, but he’s against the doors already. He silently begs for the fairy to open the doors. He can get himself home if he can open the doors, race into the circle. No harm can come to him when the fairy is around.

Cia leans in farther, pressing herself against him, draping her arms around his neck. He turns his head to the side so he doesn’t have to look at her so close to him, to not breathe her air.

“Why did you run, Link?” She hisses quietly, too close for comfort. He squeezes his eyes shut. He wants to dissociate, to distance himself from this situation. He wants out. He just wants to be out. 

“We’re fine here,” Cia says back to her forces, and Warriors hears them leave. Then her face is back in his, and he is filled with the same dread.

“Why would you run, love? I love you. You know I love you. Why wouldn’t you want to stay? I take care of you.”

Warriors doesn’t want to say anything. His eyes are uncomfortably hot. Cia still has his scarf wrapped around her shoulders. He wants it back. His scarf is a physical comfort. He just wants it back. He doesn’t ask.

“Here’s the ultimatum, dear,” Cia purrs. “You won’t run again. Would you like to know why?”

Warriors remains silent.

“If you even step a toe out of line again, I’ll send my forces after your princess, Lana, and the rest of your heroes. What’s that look for? Did you think I didn’t know?” Cia is laughing now, her grip around his shoulders tightening.

“They’ll die, and it won’t be pretty. It’ll be befitting them, Link. Vulgar heroes, putting their noses where they don’t belong. Your nosy princess, who can’t leave me be. How hard can it be to get a new hero?”

Cia leans in farther, her nose touching his cheek. She grabs his chin with an iron grip, wrenching his face so he’s nose to nose with her. Warriors’ heart is pounding in his chest, and his breath is short. She’s going to hurt them if he does anything else wrong. She’s going to hurt them.

Cia pulls him in and presses her lips to his.

Warriors jerks in an attempt to move away, but there’s a wall at his back, and Cia’s not letting up. He shoves at her shoulders. Eventually she lets go, smiles at him. Warriors is pretty sure he’s crying. His breath is coming in short gasps, and he’s never felt more used in his life.

  
  
  
  
  


Warriors is in a corner, pressed against the cold wall. He’s still shaking. He’s no longer cold, and he’s switched out his wet clothing for a dress shirt and slacks he’s never seen but fit him perfectly. He suspects it’s Cia’s doing.

His feet are ripped up and raw from running so far in the mud and rain and wind, and he’s been crying since he was deposited back in his room.

He feels a crawling on his arm, and looks down. There’s a roach on his sleeve. It’s rather massive. It crawls up his arm, onto his shoulder, and bumps its little roach head into his suit collar. It’s kinda like it’s trying to comfort him.

Warriors decides to call it George.

  
  
  
  
  


Warriors tries to be good.

He tries to do what Cia wants. He doesn’t have a choice. When she kisses him, he complies. When she comes in to talk to him about whatever had happened that day, he listens dutifully. When she wants to go on walks around the valley, he doesn’t try and escape.

If he messes up, he knows she’ll kill them.

Then there’s the sometimes when Cia comes in and _destroys_.

She’ll come in and scream and throw things. Sometimes these things hit Warriors. She doesn’t ever aim for him, but sometimes she doesn’t pay attention. Warriors once had a vase crack over his head. He cried out, and immediately she’d snapped out of it, kissing his forehead and nose and cheeks and apologising frantically. Tears had run down his face for long after she’d left.

She opens the door again. Warriors can only pray she just wants to talk, considering how… unideal the other two options are.

Cia slams her heel into the ground, and immediately Warriors cowers into his sheets.

Cia curses, grabbing a vase of flowers they’d chosen together and throws it across the room. She yells something about moblins being incompetent. Warriors thinks maybe this time he can calm her down.

As she grinds glass under her boots, Warriors slowly pads up behind her.

“Cia,” He says softly, reaching to wrap his arms around her waist. She asks him to do it commonly enough. He hooks his chin over her shoulder. 

She spins around, driving her elbow into his abdomen and shoving him into the broken glass. He can feel the glass in his hands and feet, and he gasps in pain. Cia is staring down at him angrily. Her glare is unwavering. Dread spikes through his whole body.

“Please,” He blubbers before he can stop himself, crawling forward, and kneeling at her feet. He clutches the bottom of her skirt, shaking. “Please, please. I didn’t mean it, I didn’t, I just wanted to make you feel better, please don’t hurt them, please-”

Cia’s hand fists into his hair, dragging his head up so he’s looking at her in the eyes. He’s crying again- he’s cried more in this captivity stint than he has in probably a decade, but he’s not sure where his pride has gone. He’s pathetic. He accepts it.

“You do not touch me unless I permit it. You do not do anything I do not permit,” Cia growls.

“Please don’t hurt them, I’ll do anything, I will,” Warriors sobs. He can’t stop begging. It doesn’t feel below him anymore. He’s never felt lower.

“You’ll do anything anyways, love,” Cia says, yanking him to his feet and pulling his face close.

When they split, Warriors keeps begging. He begs until Cia slams his head into his bedpost and he loses consciousness.

  
  
  
  
  


Warriors stares at the door all day. He barely sleeps. Cia hasn’t been in since that incident, and blood matts his golden hair, tugging on it uncomfortably. He can only assume he got someone killed. What would he do if he got one of them killed?

What if Cia killed Zelda, who was the strongest person he’d ever met, but also liked having her hair brushed by someone else? Who liked sleepovers and stealing kitchen snacks and looking for new outfits in the market while he held everything she’d chosen, following her around obediently?

Impa, who acted tough and was tough but also polished her swords obsessively, and forgot to sleep, but also learned the name of each individual recruit, their favourite food, what kind of training exercise they liked best?

Lana, who constantly blamed herself for Cia’s actions, even though it was never her fault? Lana who liked holding hands with anyone who would? Lana, who kept the group together when they fought? Lana, who was the most loving person he’d ever met?

And the Links…

What if Cia had killed Time or Twilight, who are both strong leaders and protectors, but also desire the simple farm life? Time and Twilight who spend hours caring for Epona tirelessly after a long day of walking or fighting? Time or Twilight who Warriors has to force to sleep some days?

Wind and Hyrule, who are both young and naive but are wise beyond their years? Wind and Hyrule who both still carry that childish excitement that all of them had carried once, at little things like a flock of birds or a puppy in the streets of some town?

Four, who acts emotionless, but cares so much? Wild, who takes care of the rest of the group before himself? Sky, who loves each of them unconditionally?

Legend, who acts as if he despises Warriors, but has never ever failed to protect him or stick up for him when he’s being victimised?

Warriors thinks about them all, dead on the ground, bleeding, in a coffin or as ashes. He can’t, he doesn’t want to think about it. It could be true, probably is, and if he dwells on it too long, it’ll haunt his dreams.

It’s all his fault.

  
  
  
  
  


Legend is sitting at the war table. His leg is bouncing violently. Beside him, Wind is wringing his hands anxiously. Legend wraps his arm around Wind’s shoulders, and Wind shoots him a grateful look.

“Time, I’d like if you were with me to find Cia,” Zelda says, addressing their unofficial leader. Time nods. He seems familiar with everyone in this timeline, comfortably so. Legend doesn’t even want to ask why, in fear of a vague answer.

Like the time he said he fought the moon.

“Absolutely,” Time chirps. He’s acting sort of like a kid. If- _when_ they find him, Legend thinks he’ll ask Warriors about it.

“I want to come too,” Wind blurts. When all eyes in the room turn to him, he doesn’t shrink. He straightens up in his seat. “I want to slap that bitch.”

Zelda barks out a surprised laugh, before nodding. “It’d be an honor.”

“Legend, you and Lana have to find him. I assume you’ve studied the maps?”

“Yes,” Land and Legend say in unison. They lock eyes, sporting twin determined glares. Everyone has some form of one. They’re going to find him.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Legend slashes at the horde in front of them. Lana at his back swings her hand out, monsters pushing back against the invisible force shoving them away. They run for the main temple. Legend shudders.

In between the twin staircases is a massive portrait of Warriors, as tall as the first floor of the temple. Legend’s stomach sinks farther. He’s heard how obsessed she is, but he doesn’t think he’d quite registered it for himself until he saw it.

Lana prods him in the back, and he snaps back into it. They race up the stairs together, Lana summoning a wave of magic to send all of the monsters following them sprawling back to the ground floor. They continue their plight. Hot blood splatters across Legend’s face, and he wipes at it with his sleeve. Yuck.

Lana leads the way. Earlier she’d claimed she thinks she knows where he’s being kept. She says her and Cia share dreams of eachother’s memories of the day. It’s a remnant from back when they were the same person. She says that she hates it, but Legend is infinitely glad for it this time.

Assuming it’s correct.

They reach a pair of massive metal double doors. “Back up,” Lana says, and Legend obliges. He slashes instead at oncoming monsters, protecting Lana as she does… whatever she’s going to do.

Legend turns around when he hears a bang. The doors have swung open violently, and Lana’s breathing hard. She puts her hands on her knees, catching her breath. Legend runs in, grabbing her arm as he passes. It’s not safe to wait.

He’s there. Legend tries to full-body shove the door closed, but Lana puts a hand on his shoulder.

“I can do it. Get him,” She says. Legend nods, leaving the door to him and skidding to his knees at Warriors’ feet.

Legend’s hands hover over his shoulders. Warriors’ head is in his knees. His hair is matted with blood, and he’s shaking, breathing quickly. His feet are bare and torn up, and he’s muttering something to himself quietly. With horror, Legend notices an elaborately-decorated golden shackle locked around his ankle. He doesn’t know where it’s coming from, but he can see it rubbing his ankle raw.

“Wars,” Legend says as gently as he can. “Wars, please.”

Warriors’ head whips up instantly, staring at Legend with wide, terrified eyes. He’s not a pretty crier, Legend thinks offhandedly, but then realises he’s _crying_.

“Legend?” Warriors asks, breath hitching. His voice is a whisper, and he grabs Legend’s hand, the one that’s hovering by his shoulder. He pulls it to his chest, holding it so close Legend can feel his erratic heartbeat.

“Yeah, Wars,” Legend replies, curling his fingers around Warriors’ hands. “It’s me. You’re okay.”

“So who was it then?” He mutters, and when Legend questions the statement, he says, “Who did Cia kill?”

Legend is horrified by that. He thought Cia had been killing them?

“We’re all okay,” He says carefully. “Everyone is alive and here.”

“You’re lying.” Warriors states immediately, with no room for argument. “You’re not even Legend. You’re just an illusion that Cia made, something made up and fake and-”

Legend looks back at Lana for help as Warriors rambles, but she shrugs at him. She mimes knocking someone out. Legend honestly thinks it may be the best idea.

Warriors has devolved to sobbing. He’s screaming about Legend being a fake, screaming about Cia and illusions and punishment for messing up, but his grip on Legend’s hand is still iron. Legend stares for a moment longer, before he hears a pained grunt from Lana.

“You can hit me back later, Wars,” Legend declares, and uses his free hand to sock Warriors in the jaw.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Legend and Lana are the last ones to leave. Lana does all the fighting on the way back out, as Legend holds Warriors close to his chest. The shackle is still around his ankle, but the chain is dangling from nothing. Legend had just cut it with his sword. Gold is weaker than iron, but Cia must have used it because it was more decorative.

They reach the group at the entrance, and they flock around Legend, protecting him and Lana from anyone oncoming. Wind jogs beside Legend, looking a mix between worried and proud.

“Did you hit her?” Legend asks offhandedly.

“I hit her so hard she fell down the stairs to her throne,” Wind laughs, and then sobers. “He’s…”

“He’s alive. I think he’s okay.”

“Good,” Wind says, and splits. Zelda yells for the wagons to start moving, and the camp starts rolling away. The group throws themselves onto a large, open wagon as it speeds up, and watch the Valley of Souls vanish into the skyline.

  
  
  
  
  
  


When Warriors wakes up, Legend is asleep at his bedside, holding one of his hands. Legend’s thumb is pressed to his wrist. His pulse point, Warriors realises. The thought makes him feel warm.

He vaguely remembers his rescue. He remembers Legend telling him they were all safe, and him telling Legend he wasn’t real. He recognises this as his room in Hyrule Castle. He thinks this is his room in Hyrule Castle. He desperately hopes it is.

His breathing speeds up. He tries to stop it, tries to calm down, but his effort only causes him more stress. If he thinks hard enough, he can almost feel-

“Hey,” Legend says groggily. Warriors snaps back to reality. “You’re okay.”

“I know,” Warriors sighs defeatedly, a sad smile worming onto his face. “Thank you. I… I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Legend asks, leaning forward, elbows on the bed.

“I didn’t escape, Cia was going to kill one of you, all of you. I messed up, she was going to go after you, she-”

Warriors levels a glare at Legend, who has a hand clamped over his mouth. Does Legend really think he won’t lick his hand?

Well, Legend is absolutely right. No way in hell.

“You done?” Legend asks, eyes narrow. Warriors nods.

“Good. You did nothing wrong. A crazy sorceress who’s obsessed with you kidnapped you when we were jumping. You did your best to get out, didn’t you? I know you. I’m sure you did. There’s no dishonor in failing.”

Warriors tears up again. Legend stares at him for a moment before sitting himself on the bed as well, facing Warriors.

Legend holds out his arms, and in an instant, Warriors has taken him up on his offer.

Legend is glaring at the wall, Warriors can see out of the corner of his gaze, but his hand is combing through Warriors’ bloody locks, trying to separate them into something manageable. Warriors buries his face in Legend’s shoulder. This embrace is safe. This isn’t like-

“You’re safe,” Legend murmurs. “We have you. Wind slapped her so hard she fell down the stairs. Everything is fine.”

“He what?” Warriors chuckles, his hands clutching Legend’s tunic like a lifeline. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Yeah,” Legend tightens his arms around Warriors. “Apparently your Zelda put him on her shoulders so he could reach.”

“I also got you back something,” Zelda announces from the doorway. Both Warriors and Legend look up, but neither of them let go. Zelda is waving his scarf. Warriors breaks out into a grin, gently excusing himself from Legend’s embrace so he can wrap his arms around Zelda.

She squeaks, falling right into the pair, but smiles after a moment, hugging Warriors back. The scarf is pressed between them, newly clean and wondrously soft. He lets Zelda pull back and wrap it around his shoulders, tucking it in the way he always does it. They smile at eachother for a moment, before-

“Wars!” Wind yells, launching himself into Warriors arms. He bowls them both over, and he ends up lying down in bed, Wind on top of his chest with his fists in his shirt. He notices that these are his own clothes he’s sleeping in, and he’s so grateful.

Suddenly there’s more weight on him. He sees Legend curl up beside him, Zelda on the other side. He can feel Sky and a wet rag gently scrubbing at the blood in his hair, and Lana is laying on one of his legs. The rest of the Links pile themselves into the bed, all touching him in some way, like they’re trying to reassure themselves that they’re okay.

“You good?” Legend asks quietly, squeezing his hand.

“Yeah,” Warriors decides, right then and there. “I’m good.”

**Author's Note:**

> wars i'm sorry,,,


End file.
